In high end audio circuit applications, high quality signal processing is essential for quality sound. Since high quality audio systems are indeed sensitive by their nature, sound artifacts or unwanted noise are more apparent when they occur. For example, it has been observed that artifacts can occur when a zero audio signal is present. This occurs because the value of the signal is not precisely zero. The reason it may not be precisely zero because of induced noise, electrical interference or any other phenomena that introduces unwanted noise. A particular example of such unwanted noise can occur when a multi-disk CD player changes disks. Here, the audio content is zero when the changer is removing one disk and inserting another, but electrical noise is created by the servo motor operation within the CD changer can induce unwanted noise into the audio output.
In a certain classes of audio equipment, such as Class D power amplifiers, this residual and undesirable noise occurs when the audio content is zero, and can be completely removed because it is possible to “switch off” the audio output. For example, when representing a zero audio signal, a Class D power amplifier may be constantly switching the output from a high value (of say 30 v) to a low value (of say −30 v) with approximately equal time spent at each value. Therefore, the average value is half way for example zero volts. To achieve complete silence in the output, such a Class D amplifier may simply cease to switch the signal at all, thus leaving the output to the speakers unconnected and perfectly silent. Typically, therefore, to exploit this possibility, a Class D audio system will have a means to detect zero audio signals, and upon detecting this condition, will cause the Class D output to shut off completely, achieving essentially perfect silence in the loudspeakers. However, it has been observed that the transition from operation with zero audio signals to operation with the output disconnected is not itself free from noise. That is, upon the appearance of zero signals in the audio data, the Class D output falls silent. This is because the output, while still operating, is creating the average zero value. The means to detect zero signals in the audio data will, after a short delay, conclude that the output should now switch off in order to achieve complete silence. When this means activates, the Class D output stage will transition from representing silence as the average signal value of zero (perhaps not completely silently due to the discussed artifacts) to representing silence because the output is switched off or disconnected (now representing complete silence since the output is no longer active). It is observed that this transition itself can be a source of noise (a click is typically heard). Fundamentally, the source of this noise as the system switches from an average value of no signal to a disconnected state is due to the detailed nature of the switching signal while the system is operating.
Specifically, the representation of silence as an average of non-zero output values, +30 v and −30 v for example, is achieved because the output spends equal time at the high value as at the low value—hence the average output is half way, zero volts in this example. Any such averaging process implies a time over which the signal is averaged. For example, if the output signal value has, for the last 10 uS, been at the high value, it will next spend 10 uS at the low value, such that, over the combined interval, 20 us in this example, the average value is mid way, zero volts. Thus, a time over which an average value is zero is a necessary part of the representation of zero when the system is active. This leads to the problem that the click artifact is heard in the transition from the operation with the average value to the operation with the output disconnected, because the act of switching to the disconnected condition truncates the averaging process such that the average value, at the moment of disconnection, may not be zero. As a result, a click will be heard when a Class D audio system attempts to transition from a representation of silence as an average value to a disconnected or non-operating state, because the average signal value at the moment of this transition may not be zero.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a system and method able to control the transition of a Class D audio system from operation with average switched values to operation with output disconnection such that no artifact (click) is induced at the moment of transition. As will be seen, the invention provides this in an elegant manner.